A hit-and-run crash which claimed the life of a University of Nebraska-Omaha student-athlete remains under investigation.

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner says investigators hope to clarify exactly what happened Friday night near Waverly when 19-year-old Merzedes Hart of Council Bluffs, Iowa was struck and killed as she returned to a parked car on the side of U.S. 6 near the Shakers Gentlemen’s Club.

The car fled the scene. Sheriff’s deputies later located the driver.

“The involved vehicle left the scene initially,” Wagner tells reporters during a media briefing. “We were able to locate that vehicle and driver. He has been interviewed and released. The investigation is continuing.”

Wagner says the driver told deputies he thought he had hit a deer. No charges have been filed.

Hart was a freshmen member of the Mavericks’ track and field team at a meet in Lincoln. She studied business at UNO.